ACR News

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) is a noninvasive treatment for uterine fibroids that delivers lasting symptom relief, researchers reported this week at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 35th Annual Scientific Meeting in Tampa, Florida.

The American College of Radiology (ACR), American Board of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America, and the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine, recently submitted joint comments to the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) regarding proposed implementation of the Medicare/Medicaid program on meaningful use of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology.

Highly-focused stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) can eliminate the targeted tumor while avoiding treatment-related illness and may ultimately improve survival for patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer, according to early findings of a Radiation Therapy Oncology Group study published in the March 17 cancer-themed issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently released an article, Radiologic Technologists: Falsification of Documentation, discussing several cases where mammography QC records and American Registry of Radiologic Technologist registration cards were falsified.

Louis K. Wagner, PhD, and Milton J. Guiberteau, MD, were recently elected to serve a six-year term on the council of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP).

A New York health insurance company has been dropped from the Medicare Part D prescription drug program. The government says it determined the insurer wasn't meeting Medicare requirements for beneficiaries. It is reportedly the first time a company has been terminated from the Part D program since its inception.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Democrats on Tuesday cast doubt on their chances of meeting the White House's March 18 deadline for voting on a stalled healthcare overhaul, but said they are moving as fast as they can.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Abdominal CT scan seldom detects hepatic metastases from uveal melanoma and may not be indicated for screening, according to a report in the March Archives of Ophthalmology.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - While vaginal dilation might help treat late effects of pelvic irradiation, evidence does not support routine dilation during or immediately after radiotherapy.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Just 38% of patients with suspected cardiac disease are found to have obstructive coronary disease on elective cardiac catheterization, new research shows. This low diagnostic yield suggests that clinical assessments and noninvasive tests are not doing their job in selecting patients for cardiac catheterization.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The leader of the U.S. House of Representatives - a persuasive arm-twister and deal maker - faces her toughest challenge yet in the coming weeks: getting 216 votes to pass final legislation revamping the U.S. healthcare system.

ST. LOUIS, MO (Reuters Health) - The intensity of surveillance after curative-intent treatment for ovarian cancer is highly variable, investigators announced this week at the Society of Surgical Oncology 63rd Annual Cancer Symposium.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In women with a familial risk of breast cancer, MRI screening alone is sufficient, German researchers report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology published online February 22nd.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An experimental approach that looks for DNA leaking out from dead and dying cells may lead to a blood test for breast cancer, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children with proptosis, ophthalmoplegia, or pain with extraocular movement are at high risk for intraorbital abscess and should have urgent imaging studies - although many other children at high risk won't have these predictors, researchers say.

Exercise testing is sensitive for coronary artery disease when ST-segment changes, angina, and hemodynamic variables are considered - but it's still not as sensitive as computed tomographic angiography (CTA), a study from Denmark shows.

In clinically localized prostate cancer, both radical prostatectomy and external beam radiotherapy inhibit metastatic progression, but prostatectomy seems more effective in high-risk patients, researchers report.

Bedside ultrasonography allows acute cholecystitis to be confirmed or ruled out as effectively in the emergency department as in the radiology suite, new research shows.

The ACR recently sent a letter to President Obama urging him to instruct Medicare to provide coverage of CT colonography. The President recently received CTC during his annual medical exam.

The longer women wait for radiotherapy after breast cancer surgery, the greater the risk their disease will come back, scientists said on Wednesday, in a study likely to pressure health services to cut waiting times.